Drone Bill Passes House Committee

MQ-1C Gray Eagle (Photo by Christopher Shadrock)

Legislation to ban police from using drones to spy on citizens is gaining support in the state legislature.

Thursday, the House Judiciary Committee unanimously passed the bill.

Representative Ritch Workman is sponsoring the legislation. Workman says if Florida doesn’t regulate drones now, the state could end up like England where a million cameras watch everybody.

“The danger is there that we just have drones flying around, looking for crime, looking in your backyards and that’s not the country we are. They’ve chosen to be that country. I never want to see us move that direction,” said Rep. Workman.

The bill would require police to get a search warrant to use a drone. It would also allow drones to be used in emergency situations.

Online Public Information File

Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or fccinfo@fcc.gov.